Mystery death of backpack Briton hit by Thai train

An experienced British backpacker who was killed as she tried to flag down a goods train in Thailand may have been held against her will, an inquest heard yesterday.

Penny Cunningham, 26, had earlier lost her "bum bag", containing passport, wallet and credit cards, and may have been robbed.

But a boarding pass belonging to someone else, with a note scribbled on the back, was found on her body.

Miss Cunningham had been seen in a "dishevelled and confused" condition at Phun Phin railway station, in Surathani, southern Thailand, where she declined offers of help.

She was hit by the train after stepping on to the track as it approached at 40 mph two miles from the station.

The note on the pass read: "I am here to fly with my man Chris. Where I don't know. This is what my taxi driver said to do. Me and my man Chris are flying at 12.30 so shall I wait for Chris here."

Her passport was found under a market stall at the station soon after her death in December 2001, the hearing in Stockport was told.

She had taken a ferry to mainland Thailand from Ko Pan Yang island and a taxi to the station with the intention of returning to Bangkok.

Her father Peter Cunningham, who hired private investigators to look into her death, said: "She had lost her bag and her money and I believe she was being held against her will until she could get more money."

He said that when he went to identify her body in Thailand, he noticed that one eye was swollen and bruised as if she had been punched.

Dr Charles Wilson, a Home Office pathologist, said lacerations on Miss Cunningham's body indicated that she was alive when the train hit her. There was no evidence of drug or alcohol misuse and none of sexual assault.

John Pollard, the Stockport coroner, raised the possibility that a "bent copper had been working in league with a local taxi driver" at the time. Det Supt Jack Dees, of Greater Manchester Police, who investigated the death, told him: "I have to accept it goes on out there." He added, however, that there was no evidence to suggest Miss Cunningham had been murdered.

Recording an open verdict, Mr Pollard said there were factors about the case that still troubled him. "Why did she have a boarding pass in someone else's name? I don't think we'll ever get to the bottom of it.

"The loss and relocation of her passport seems rather peculiar. She changed suddenly and dramatically to a person who is totally confused and frightened and not really thinking clearly. She may have been mistreated by someone and may have been held against her will."

Miss Cunningham, who attended Nottingham University, was the eldest of four children. She was on her third trip to Asia and had extensive contacts, including a cousin working at the British Embassy in Bangkok.

Her father, an engineer from New Mills, Derbyshire, said she had just qualified as a dive master, was strong and determined, made friends easily and was "very stable" emotionally.

Mr Cunningham said after the hearing that his daughter's two loves were water and travel. "She usually travelled with friends but that last journey in 2001 she was coming home for Christmas through areas she knew as well as Manchester and she let her guard down - it wasn't really travelling.

"In Surathani, things went wrong when Penny's passport and credit cards were stolen, and Thailand became an alien, hostile place."

He advised Britons to travel in groups: "The harsh realities are that countries such as Thailand are comparatively poor and what seems like pocket change to us can make a big difference to their lives. In reality, we are only meal tickets and if we can't provide that ticket the smiles disappear."